That was it. Short and sweet. No suggestion of when they might get together next. She was relieved. Wasn’t she? She should be. She’d given herself a firm talking-to after she’d gotten some sleep. Put things in perspective. Did she even have time for dating right now? She looked down at the carrier which doubled as a seat. The baby was awake and staring up at her with big blue eyes. She’d been up twice during the night to feed him. Babies took up a lot of time.
The truth was, she was nearly thirty. She figured that any man she got involved with pretty much had to come with keeper potential. It was simply the way she was wired. She’d never wasted time on things that were going nowhere. Sometimes she wondered what that would be like. Pointless? Or liberating? Either way, she had her laundry list of attributes for her future partner. Top of it were marriage and father material. Dave certainly seemed devoted to his daughter, but how long would he stay in Jewell Cove?
She enlisted Robin’s help in caring for the baby, putting his seat in the reception area, taking turns changing him or carrying him around when he was fussy. Midmorning, two cups of coffee and four patients later, Robin came back and let her know that Todd Smith was in the waiting room and wanted to talk to her. Figuring it could only be about the baby, she checked her watch and nodded. “Bring him back here, Robin. If it’s about the investigation, we won’t want to talk where everyone can hear.”
“Sure thing, Charlie.” Robin smiled and scooted out, returning only seconds later with Officer Smith trailing behind her.
Next to the petite receptionist, Todd Smith looked big and imposing, especially in his uniform. He’d removed his hat and had it tucked under his arm, and she realized some of his bulk came from the impressive array of gear on his belt as well as the probability of a flak jacket beneath his clothing.
“Morning, Dr. Yang,” he greeted.
She smiled. “You can call me Charlie,” she offered. “Unless you prefer the title for official business.”
He smiled back. “Too bad I am on official business.” Before she could dissect that particular comment, he motioned toward a chair. “May I?”
“Oh, of course. Do you want a coffee or anything?”
There was a tap on the door frame and Robin came in, carrying a steaming mug. “Here you go, Todd. Heavy on the cream, no sugar.”
“Thanks, Robin.” He smiled at the receptionist and then grinned at Charlie. “Robin already asked when I arrived. Thanks for the offer, though.” He took a sip and sighed. “That’s way better than what Bryce makes up at the station.”
Charlie sat in her chair and crossed her ankles. “So. I take it you have news?”
He took another drink of coffee and then put the cup down on the corner of her desk. “Well, yes. But not the kind we hoped for.” His gaze met hers. “We did a records check. Couldn’t find any unaccounted-for babies from any of the nearby hospitals. We went back over three weeks.”
She frowned. “Huh. I really thought that would work, you know?” She thought for a second and then voiced an idea. “What if the baby had been born at home? It happens. Not often, but it happens.”
“You mean with a midwife or something?”
“Sure, that too. Couldn’t you cross-check birth-certificate registrations against the hospital records?”
He nodded and smiled. “Actually, we’ve already started on that.”
Charlie sat back in her chair and pondered. It was hard to hide a pregnancy, or any record of it if the mom had been receiving regular prenatal care. Surely it would only be a matter of time until they found the baby’s mother. “Well, something will hopefully turn up.”
“It takes time. The wheels of bureaucracy and all that. I just wanted to give you an update, seeing as how you’ve got a stake in this too. I was surprised to see him with you today.”
She gave a little laugh. “I couldn’t resist. He’s sweet. Even though he kept me up all night.”
Smith shuddered. “Yuck. Been there done that. During a few of my Uncle of the Year moments.” He laughed. “I like my sister’s kids much better now that they’re mobile. It’ll be even better when they hit Little League.”
She looked at the officer closely, took quick stock of him. Tall, handsome, stable job, liked kids, settled … he ticked all the right boxes. But she didn’t get that tummy-lifting, butterfly sensation that she did when she saw Dave. How inconvenient.
“Charlie, would you mind stopping by the station, maybe tomorrow? It might be good to go over your statement from Saturday night. See if you remember anything else that might help us out.”
“I don’t work until one. I can probably pop in tomorrow morning.”
“That’d be great. Well, I’d better be going.” He hesitated for a minute, then caught her gaze and held it. “This Ricker guy that was here on Saturday. Are you…”
“No.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. But she couldn’t deny that Todd looked relieved at her answer.
“Oh. It seemed like you were.”
“We were merely walking to meet Josh and some others at the pub. He didn’t want me to be alone is all.”
Liar.
She checked her watch. “Listen, thanks for stopping by. I do have another patient waiting, though.”
He stood and nodded. “And I’ve got to get back to work. Take care, Charlie.” His smile was warm enough to melt icicles.